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Behavioral Insights into Personal Electronics Repair: Accelerating the Swedish Transition to a Circular Economy

Lopez Davila, Mariana LU (2021) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEM01 20211
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Abstract
Sweden is actively seeking to scale up repair activities as part of its strategy to reduce waste, transition to a circular economy, and achieve zero net emissions by 2045. In the last couple of years, several new policies to promote consumer repairs have been adopted or proposed in Sweden. However, very little is known about the socio-cultural and individual factors that shape people's decision to repair their personal electronics. This thesis addresses this gap by applying behavior theory to comprehensively study the factors shaping and influencing people's decision to repair their personal electronics. The study followed a mixed-method research design involving 19 semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire answered by 190... (More)
Sweden is actively seeking to scale up repair activities as part of its strategy to reduce waste, transition to a circular economy, and achieve zero net emissions by 2045. In the last couple of years, several new policies to promote consumer repairs have been adopted or proposed in Sweden. However, very little is known about the socio-cultural and individual factors that shape people's decision to repair their personal electronics. This thesis addresses this gap by applying behavior theory to comprehensively study the factors shaping and influencing people's decision to repair their personal electronics. The study followed a mixed-method research design involving 19 semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire answered by 190 participants. The interviews and questionnaires were conducted with individuals residing in Sweden and were based on Triandis' theory of interpersonal behavior.

The study revealed that intention and habits determined repair behavior and that social norms, attitudes, and feelings about repair determined participants' intention to repair. Moreover, the interviews and questionnaire uncovered that, in general, attitudes and social norms about repair do not encourage repair behavior and that the physical environment is filled with barriers that discourage people from repairing their broken electronics. Therefore, the study concluded that to scale up repair activities, it is essential to improve the perceived individual benefits of repair, strengthen social norms to make repair the expected solution for broken personal electronics, shape repair habits, and lower contextual barriers. The implications of these findings and specific policy recommendations are discussed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lopez Davila, Mariana LU
supervisor
organization
course
IMEM01 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
repair, electrical and electronic equipment, theory of interpersonal behavior, circular economy, Sweden
publication/series
IIIEE Master Thesis
report number
2021.11
ISSN
1401-9191
language
English
id
9062329
date added to LUP
2021-08-03 08:12:04
date last changed
2022-02-04 09:25:04
@misc{9062329,
  abstract     = {{Sweden is actively seeking to scale up repair activities as part of its strategy to reduce waste, transition to a circular economy, and achieve zero net emissions by 2045. In the last couple of years, several new policies to promote consumer repairs have been adopted or proposed in Sweden. However, very little is known about the socio-cultural and individual factors that shape people's decision to repair their personal electronics. This thesis addresses this gap by applying behavior theory to comprehensively study the factors shaping and influencing people's decision to repair their personal electronics. The study followed a mixed-method research design involving 19 semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire answered by 190 participants. The interviews and questionnaires were conducted with individuals residing in Sweden and were based on Triandis' theory of interpersonal behavior. 

The study revealed that intention and habits determined repair behavior and that social norms, attitudes, and feelings about repair determined participants' intention to repair. Moreover, the interviews and questionnaire uncovered that, in general, attitudes and social norms about repair do not encourage repair behavior and that the physical environment is filled with barriers that discourage people from repairing their broken electronics. Therefore, the study concluded that to scale up repair activities, it is essential to improve the perceived individual benefits of repair, strengthen social norms to make repair the expected solution for broken personal electronics, shape repair habits, and lower contextual barriers. The implications of these findings and specific policy recommendations are discussed.}},
  author       = {{Lopez Davila, Mariana}},
  issn         = {{1401-9191}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
  title        = {{Behavioral Insights into Personal Electronics Repair: Accelerating the Swedish Transition to a Circular Economy}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}